Sacred Calling
by IvoryMoonlight
Summary: Takes place the moment where Tamina wants to sacrifice herself in the Temple and Dastan stops her. Read&Review :Originally published as a once-shot but changed my mind.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, folks! I watched the Prince of Persia for the hundredth time last night and thought of writing a one-shot on the moment where Tamina is ready to sacrifice herself in the Temple. I worked hard on it and I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and hopefully share your thoughts with me (if you know what I mean :P)

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Protect the Dagger of Time no matter the consequences. That is your sacred calling, Tamina. That is your destiny..._

_Words she had heard more than once since her birth. Since the tender age of six years old, Princess Tamina had been learning the secrets of the precious Dagger, the dangers that it hid and the ways to protect it. She had spent all her life keeping it safe in the Holy City of Alamut and she had carried that burden all on her own. She had no one to share her secret with, no one to help her with the protection of that valuable item and no one to rely on to take care of it and her city in case she failed in doing so herself. Fifteen years spent in solitude and loneliness. Surrounded only by her maids and priests and priestesses, she was the one that had to stay strong through the hard times and not to show feelings and weaknesses._  
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"Feelings are a weakness."_

That's what the High Priest had told her the day of her beloved mother's funeral when he found her in a fountain in the gardens crying in agony. She was just seven years old and she had not realized that day how harsh those words truly were. So she had spent the next fifteen years putting on her mask of serenity and coolness and she had buried deep in herself her true feelings. She had not shed a single tear during these years, not even when she was alone in her bed chambers because she was used to looking so tranquil and peaceful. And then he_ had to come along and change everything! Had anyone ever told her that the man who breached the walls of her beloved city, would be the same man whose destiny was tied to the Dagger as well and the same man she would eventually come to love, she would have looked at them scornfully and told them a witty and insulting retort of hers._  
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At first, she hated him with all her being for destroying her city and stealing the Dagger. She thought that as a true Persian Prince, he was brutal, arrogant and selfish and with no honor. But having to spend so much time with him, she discovered he was a better man than she had given him credit for. He was one of the most strange but amazing men she had ever met. He was kind and gentle and selfless but fierce, determined and strong. He was a man who honored his family and his principals and she respected him for that._

The night he found out about the Dagger, she was afraid he would use it for his own gain but she was mistaken. The man all he wanted to do was restore his honor and wounded pride and punish the one who had to be blamed. He had protected the Dagger and herself so strongly and passionately that it made her admire him and actually have feelings for him. Feelings she had kept hidden for all those years. She didn't know if she should hate him or love him for that. But there was one thing she knew; she couldn't stay away from him. As if their lives were linked, destined to be together. How she wish she had met him earlier. They would have been able to be together under different circumstances.

But now, as she saw him fighting against the Hassanssins for her and the Dagger, she knew what she had to do. _She knew he would stop her if he saw her heading to the Temple. So she waited for the moment he had his back turned on her. Reluctantly, she climbed the rocks, stepping carefully among the dead bodies of the poor guardians of the Temple, and headed faster than before to the Temple, where the first Guardian had received the Dagger from the gods. "Protect the Dagger" was what Dastan told her moments ago but she knew that was not what he meant. She knew that he thought stupid and useless the idea of sacrificing herself for the Dagger but she had no choice. All of mankind depended on her. She could not risk unleashing gods' wrath again, followed by the destruction of all life on earth. She entered the cave and took a look at where she was supposed to place the Dagger. It looked like a small star engraved on the rock and a bright light was coming from it. She took a deep breath and unsheathed the Dagger of her belt as she walked slowly towards it._  
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"Tamina, wait!" she jumped a little at the sound of his voice but was not surprised to see him. She expected he would notice her absence from the battlefield and would come after her. Concern was written all over his face and she couldn't help but feel happy and proud that a man such as Dastan was worried and protective of her and hopefully had feelings for her. She stopped walking as he stood at the rock above her, Prince Dastan, the Lion of Persia in all of his glory. He truly looked majestic and noble._  
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"Let me do it." He offered and looked certain of wanting to do this. Tamina was puzzled. Why did he want to take her place and sacrifice himself instead of her? What did he hope to achieve by doing this? However, it made no difference. Only _she_ could be taken in the place of the life the gods spared._  
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"Only a Guardian can return the Dagger. It's nothing you can do, Dastan." She didn't care how persistent and obstinate as a mule he was. She had been prepared all her life for that moment and she was not willing to be a coward and run away, giving up everything she had sworn to do, everything she had believed so strongly in and everything she had lived and waited for. Nobody wants to die but she was serving a higher cause, more noble and important than any other. She was burdened with the destiny and well-being of the world. Her little life was meaningless compared to those of million others._

"I'm ready for this." She said and started walking towards the Dagger's place with determination. But he, as expected, was not willing to give up just yet.  
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"I'm not." He said and jumped off the rock, landing right in front of her, blocking her way between her and the engraved rock. He looked in her eyes and hoped to make her change her mind, she could see that. After all, people always say, hope never dies. But she had lost all her hope of not having to do this. She had given up and gotten in terms that she must die. Why did he have to make this so difficult for her? Every passing second he stayed, so close to her, he gave her more reason for not doing it._  
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"Dastan, please, let me do it. The future of this world depends on me and only me. My life doesn't matter."_  
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He shook his head, refusing to accept there was only one solution. "Your life matters to me. Isn't that enough?"_  
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She looked at him wide eyed and surprised. Did he admit to her that he cared for her? Why did he have to do that? Was that his plan of changing her mind? Damn, that man…_  
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"No, Dastan, it's not! Please, don't say things like that!" she exclaimed._

She felt her eyes water and was confused. What was happening to her? Her puzzlement didn't last long since the tears she had hid all those years, streamed down, now, freely her covered in dust cheeks. After fifteen years, one man made her cry with just five simple words. She was important to someone, really important and not just because she was his ruler or because she was the Dagger's protector. She was important to him because she was her, Tamina, the true Tamina, not that woman that hid her feelings behind her cool, calm mask. She lowered her head, trying to calm her breathing and she felt his gentle hand caressing her cheek while he wiped the tears off her face with his thumb. He then placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head so that he could gaze into her eyes.  
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"I made the Princess of Alamut cry?" he said. She knew he expected to lighten the mood with one of his teasing remarks, hoping to distract her and make her forget what she had wanted to do. She smiled faintly not at his words but to the intentions hidden behind them. Why did she have to give up the one person that truly cared for her now? She had just found him…_  
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"You flatter yourself, Prince…" he cracked a small smirk before his face turned serious again. He placed his palm on her cheek again as small tears kept on making their way down on it._  
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"And you used to be a better liar, Princess."_  
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She wanted to tell him that she was perhaps out of practice but she forgot it the moment she saw him leaning closer to her, closing the distance between their lips. They closed their eyes as their lips touched softly and they both poured all their love and need for each other in that simple kiss. Tamina could swear she had a flashback of their journey and their adventures together during the past two weeks. She realized that what she actually felt for him was pure love and she wondered how she could love a man so quickly, so suddenly. But apparently, going through all those adventures with him, getting to knowing him so much better, seeing his other side, the Dastan that not many had seen, was what led her to fall in love with him._

He kissed her so softly and yet passionately and she felt wanted more than ever before. The fact that she had to let go of that happiness she felt those last seconds, saddened her greatly and made her hate herself. But she had to... As they pulled apart, both breathless, her hand holding the Dagger was almost on its destination, an inch away of the star-shaped hole on the rocks. Thank gods, Dastan had not noticed. She mentally said her goodbye to him and readied herself for the pain to come, as her life would be sucked out of her body. But that pain never came. She felt something cold, a metal, wrapping around her delicate, small wrist, pulling her hand away of the hole and knocking the Dagger out of it. Caught off guard, she tried to get a strong grip on the Dagger but she was pulled by an unknown force backwards. She heard Dastan calling out her name and everything went black…

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Comments please? 


	2. Chapter 2

_So after lots of thinking, I decided sorree and bellathedisenchanted were right; there are lots of moments in the movie between the two that I could write about so that's what I'll do! They will be different than the actual movie but true to the plot. So I really hope you like it. _

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_She hadn't forgotten the Dagger. He had kissed her and she still wanted to give it back to the gods and give her life with it. As much as he cared for her, as much as he thought she was one of the cleverest women he had ever met, he thought this to be the stupidest idea she had ever come up with. Actually, recalling her previous plans of getting the Dagger back, which all of them were against him, were always so rash and reckless, he could see she made them up on the spot and never gave them a second thought. The way she acted it looked as if she thought them to be her best, fastest and only solution. Usually, plans like these would not have worked but it looked like Lady Luck never left her side. Right, he had forgotten her gods. But the gods she showed so much love and respect were the ones that had wanted to kill all mankind. They were the ones that had made that Dagger that was a curse to each Guardian Princess that had held it and the Princess that had stolen his heart. The gods that wanted to take her life in order to keep the Dagger safe. He hated those gods of hers. They were responsible for all that mess. But he was smarter than that, he knew he couldn't turn against them; no man is stupid enough to have them as his enemies._

_As he gazed into her eyes, he moved his hand slowly downwards expecting to find hers and catch it in a firm grip. He had felt it moving slowly towards the star-shaped hole and he instantly knew she had taken advantage of his distraction. Thankfully, nothing could ever distract him at such a high level, making him unaware of what was happening around him. He was trained all of his life to sense every kind of movement or sound and his reflexes were more than good. They were great. And he found it almost funny that a Princess would think that she can outsmart him and make him forget everything. Pretending he had taken no notice of her movement, he was about to grab her wrist and knock the Dagger out of her hold. And he had almost succeeded when he heard a swish cutting through the air before something pulled Tamina backwards, making her lose her balance. She fell hitting her head on the stony ground and the soft but pained gasp that escaped her lips almost made his heart beat faster. But he had no time to kneel beside her or even react. One of the Hassanssins had found them and was apparently after the Dagger since he had pulled her down by the hand she held the Dagger with._

_The Hassanssin moved towards where the Dagger had fell and Dastan thanked his gods once more for his reflexes. He jumped on a rock and landed right before the damned knife, as he called it in his head, and caught it a second before the Hassanssin. However, the killer was smarter than he thought he would be. After shooting him a death glare, he gazed at the fallen Princess, who was slowly becoming conscious again, and within seconds he had her back against his chest and a dagger of his was at her throat. Tamina was now fully awake and petrified as well. He couldn't blame her; waking up with a dagger at her throat was not what she had expected. Her eyes had widened a bit and her parted lips screamed at him to help and protect her. He could sense it._

_"Give me the Dagger or she dies." The Hassansin hissed smiling deviously. Dastan's eyes darkened as his mind raced to think of something that would save both the Princess and the Dagger. He knew that she wanted badly for him to save her but she wanted as much that he protect the Dagger. Had it been up to him he would have thrown the Dagger at the killer and ran away with Tamina's hand in his but if he did so he knew she would have cursed and yelled at him if not hated him. And he couldn't risk his, finally, good relationship with her._

_Seeing his hesitation, the Hassanssin pressed the dagger harder on her throat and she struggled not to scream out loud in pain as the cold blade cut her soft, sensitive skin. The Persian Prince saw as she clenched her fists and bit her lips as her eyes pleaded him to save her and the Dagger."I said give it to me or she dies! And it would be such a waste to lose a girl like her…" his voice trailed off meaningfully as he glanced at her face and body. Dastan became more and more furious every passing second. No man was allowed to look at a woman and especially Tamina with eyes so full of disgusting lust and disrespect. He growled in a low voice and his grip tightened around the Dagger's hilt. He hated every moment of what was happening; so much that he wished he could turn back time and erase everything, even his kiss with Tamina, just to keep her safe and prevent all this from happening. Turn back time? So stupid, he held the Dagger of Time and he thought as if turning back time was something completely impossible. He knew Tamina would not approve or even like it but he had no choice._

_"Neither will I give you the Dagger nor will she die." He said, his voice above a whisper as he tried to keep calm and focused and not to do anything rush that would cost Tamina her life. The Hassanssin looked at him puzzled but Tamina knew exactly what he meant as he glanced at the Dagger in his hand. She leaved a sigh that meant clearly she was not in favour of his idea but couldn't argue. He raised his hand and the moment the killer was about to protest and slit Tamina's throat, he pressed the jewel button. The picture froze before his eyes before he watched what had happened moments ago being reversed and deleted as if it never happened. He even saw him and Tamina kissing as she moved the Dagger towards the hole. The time stopped reversing the moment he stood before her, stopping her from giving her life to the gods._

_"I'm ready for this." He heard her say once more and her words infuriated and pained him at the same time. Infuriated him because she was willing to give her life for a knife and because she acted as if it was the only solution and pained him because he could see that moment in her eyes that no matter what happened or will happen to them, the Dagger would always be the most important thing in her life. Plus, moments ago they had shared a passionate kiss she didn't remember. Maybe stopping her earlier than before would change things, maybe he could kill the Hassanssin and prevent Tamina getting hurt again._

_"I'm not." He repeated the words he told her before leaning in to kiss her. His movements were slower than before and he soon regretted it since the Hassanssin arrived once more and this time, much to Dastan's anger, he obstructed them from kissing. He pulled down Tamina the way he did before but Dastan this time decided to kill him and then take the Dagger. The fight led them out of the cave as the Hassanssin with the metallic whips was more dangerous than the Prince had thought and was close to killing him more than twice. Somehow he found himself lying on his back next to his brother, Garsiv. The brother that spared his last breath only to save him and kill the Hassanssin that was about to jump on top of him._

_"Brother…" he called him as his hand rested on his bloody face. The elder Prince looked at him with sorrow, forgiveness and guilt. He cupped his hand and breathed heavily._

_"Dastan, I'm sorry." He said as his own blood was choking him. "Save the empire…" Dastan couldn't believe he watched another one of his family dying and he could do nothing to save him. The sand left in the Dagger was enough for only one use and he knew that they would need it. He felt a little comfort knowing that Garsiv had forgiven him and admitted he was wrong for accusing his father's death on him but he hated that he had to die the moment he had come to his side. It was as if the gods didn't want him to be happy. He stood beside him until he closed his eyes and his last breath left his lips. He lowered his head in respect and sorrow, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall ever since his father died. The soft steps of Tamina shook him out of his thoughts and misery. Not knowing who it was at first, he raised his sword ready to attack anyone that was probably charging on him, taking advantage of his moment of weakness. He was a bit more relaxed to see that it was Tamina, safe and harmless. But the blank look in her eyes made him forget a little about Garsiv and he realized that whatever had happened was far from good._

_"What happened?" he asked as he stood up and scrutinized her, double-checking for any injuries and wounds. But then it occurred to him that she wouldn't look like this unless something dreadful had happened, something they had tried to prevent from happening for so long. "Where is the Dagger?"_

_"It's gone…" she mumbled as she kept looking far into the distance. What she hoped to see, he never figured out. Probably the Hassanssins that had stolen the Dagger or a sing from the gods telling her what to do. That didn't change the fact that she looked miserable and full with regret. He knew that losing the Dagger and especially to Hassanssins meant failure to her. He also knew that probably her gods didn't accept mistakes like that one. "Protect the dagger no matter the consequences; that was my sacred calling, my destiny…"_

_Dastan couldn't help rolling his eyes a little. Things he had heard before and never stopped believing it was nonsense. He approached her, stood right before her and faced her like he had when they kissed. He would have made some sort of a joke or sarcastic comment to lighten the mood up to make her forget the Dagger. But she looked so desperate, so helpless, nothing like the fierce, strong Princess he knew she was. He had the sudden urge to take her in his arms, to comfort her, to tell her everything would turn out all right. And he couldn't help but think that even though she was dirty and covered in dust and dirt she looked beautiful beyond words. The idea of holding her appealed to him more and more. But he knew that couldn't happen."_

_We make our own destiny, Princess." was all he said and he actually believed it. He wouldn't accept that someone else, were he a god or not, controlled his life and his future. He was a master of his own life and so was she and he would make her see that even if it took him ages._

_"We'll get it back." He added and was glad to see some hope in her desperate eyes. But for one thing he wasn't glad. Turning back time was something he regretted doing. It only made things worse. The Dagger was gone and Tamina did not recall their intimate moment. He should have expected this but he didn't and he felt such a fool. Things had gotten from bad to worse but he knew he would change that. Even if it cost him his own life, he would set things right. For the sake of those who had died and for the sake of Tamina..._

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_So what did you think? Please leave me a comment!I am not very pleased with this but please tell me your opinion. It will make me feel a lot better, whether it's a bad or good one (:_


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